Posted on 10/19/2005 3:57:23 PM PDT by cowdog77
President Bush hosted another dinner this year for Muslim leaders at the White House for the traditional meal that marks the end of a daily Ramadan fast.
Hosting Islamic leaders at the White House has become an annual event, one which began in 2001 after Islamic terrorists slammed three aircraft loaded with innocent Americans in the World Trade Center and Pentagon building and crashed a fourth filled with passengers into a field in Pennsylvania.
I always thought that an odd tradition to start, given the circumstances. Sort of like hosting an annual Shinto celebration in Washington, starting right after Pearl Harbor.
Bush's guest list this year includes prominent Muslim-Americans and ambassadors from large Muslim countries. In previous years, Bush hosted prominent Muslim-American leaders with strong connections with terrorism, like Muzzamil Siddiqi and Abdurahman Alamoudi.
Of his guests this year, President Bush noted;
"Our distinguished guests represent the millions of Muslims that we are proud to call Americans, and many Islamic nations represented here that America is proud to call friend."
Dr. Tom W. Smith, a nationally recognized expert in survey research, is director of the General Social Survey at the National Opinion Research Center of the University of Chicago. He authored a 2001 study entitled, “Estimating the Muslim Population in the United States.”
“The best adjusted, survey-based estimate puts the total Muslim population at 1,876,000,” writes Dr. Smith. “Even if high side estimates based on local surveys, figures from mosques, and ancestry and immigration statistics are given more weight than the survey-based numbers, it is hard to accept estimates that Muslims are greater than one percent of the population, or 2,814,000.”
Dr. Smith's figures coincide with the 1% Muslim population figure cited by the CIA World Factbook's online edition as well.
The National Mental Health Association says that approximately 2.2 million Americans, or 1.1% of the population, suffer from schizophrenia. Another 3.3 millions Americans suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder. Where are the dinners for them?
A survey conducted by the prestigious Roper Poll organization in 1991 concluded that nearly 4.1 million Americans, or one in fifty, believed that they had been abducted by UFOs. (I'm not making this up!! Copies of the report, "Unusual Personal Experiences," are available from The Roper Organization, 205 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017)
So, there are fewer 'millions' of Muslim Americans than there are schizophrenic Americans. There are fewer 'millions' of Muslim Americans than there are bi-polar Americans. And there are at least four times as many 'millions' of Americans who have been abducted by UFO's than there are Muslim Americans.
None of America's schizophrenic population have declared holy war on America. None of America's bipolar population are a threat to national security. And our 'millions' of UFO abductees are not only NOT a threat, but having them over would make for some interesting dinner conversation.
I know I'd have more fun to listening to a guy in a tinfoil hat talking about his cosmic adventures than a guy wearing a diaper and a fanbelt on his head explaining why the chant, 'Death to America' is a religous expression reflecting 'faith and family'.
Indeed, President Bush spoke of Islam as a religion that emphasizes faith and family. And he urged all those in the room to join a number of well-known Muslim scholars in denouncing those who - in his words - commit evil in 'God's name.'
What IS there about the Ramadan moon that turns the Commander in Chief into America's Theologian in Chief?
And while I am asking questions, where the heck are all those 'separation of church and state' guys?
Here is a prime example of why I've repeatedly said I wouldn't endorse a candidate based solely on his expression of faith. I get a lot of comments about President Bush and whether or not he is a 'true' Christian.
Things like; ‘I used to think Bush was a Christian, but how could a Christian . . . ? [fill in your complaint here].
I've said before that I believe George Bush is a Christian, because the qualification for being a Christian does not include being 100% in agreement with my understanding of Christianity.
The qualification for becoming a Christian is being a sinner in need of forgiveness. The qualification for being a Christian is being a forgiven sinner.
Bush's equating 'Allah' with 'God' is an example of his spiritual ignorance. Spiritually ignorant people are capable of being forgiven, as well. Few people, I would wager, first came to Christ with degrees in Christian theology.
But Bush's annual Ramadan Moon dinner displays an almost breathtaking ignorance of Islam, one so profound it is difficult to believe that somebody in his administration would have pointed out some of the more salient truths about the religion of 'faith and family'.
Sura Anfal:12ff and Sura Muhammad:3ff command the beheading of unbelievers; Sura al-Nisa’:34ff allows for beating of one’s wives; verses 74ff and 94ff, promise great reward for those who die fighting for Allah; Sura al-Ma’idah:51 says, “Believers, take neither Jews nor Christians for your friends.”
Prior to Islam's birth in AD 622, the indigenous Arabs weren't sitting around waiting for Mohammed to explain the mysteries of Allah. Like the Greeks and Romans of Jesus' day, they had plenty of religion already.
Until Mohammed, the religion of the peoples of the Arabian peninsula involved 360 gods who were believed to live in the Kabah in Mecca. One of their gods was the moon god who was married to the sun goddess. The stars were their children.
Worship of the moon god, coincidentally ALSO named Allah, (actually Alliah) involved bowing in prayer toward Mecca several times per day. Pre-Islamic Arab worshippers coincidentally ALSO made a pilgrimage to Mecca.
There, they would sacrifice animals at the stone temple called the Kabah. After circling the Kabah seven times, they would throw stones at the devil. During the month of the moon god, worshippers would fast from the appearance of the new moon until the following new moon.
The symbol of the moon religion that was the predominant religion of Mohammed's day was the crescent moon.
The crescent moon remains the symbol of Islam. The practice of making a pilgrimage to Mecca, running around the Kabah seven times, throwing stones at the devil and fasting from crescent moon to crescent moon is still part of Islamic worship.
One can only pray that Bush's ignorance is assumed for the benefit of his guests, using the old axiom; "keep your friends close, but your enemies closer." There is no other way to explain Bush's equation of Allah with God.
At least, none that makes sense to me.
oh what fun to be a dhimmi
"What IS there about the Ramadan moon that turns the Commander in Chief into America's Theologian in Chief? "
President Bush is seeking enlightment from the modern day profits of oil.
Bad keyboard! That should have been 'prophets', not 'profits' of 'Islam', not 'oil'.
Yes, you guessed it - I am underwhelmed with President Bush's domestic decisions.
The rustling sound heard in the background just before the President enters a room for meetings with Arabs is one with a historic basis. Think of the sound of an umbrella being folded - Neville Chamberlain's umbrella.
Nothing any Moslem says or does with Bush means anything to Islam. Bush is a nonbeliever according to Islamic clerics. "Nonbeliever" is an interesting word, isn't it? It means that Bush does not believe in allah from the moslem point of view. And since the muzzies know Bush is a Christian that means that Bush does not believe in the god allah. So, ipso facto, according to the muzzies their "god" is not Bushes "God".
Bush isn't stupid in this regard. He knows this. So, this little meeting is nothing more than enemies sitting in a room lying their butts off.
Heck, the muzzies, of course, don't even believe it's actually the year 2005, it's the year 1426 them.
When I was a kid I was terrorized once by a bully. One day I kicked his butt and that was that. At some point in the future either islam will destroy America or America will destroy islam. There is no in between.
He is not speaking for me when he says this. Calling an enemy "friend"?
President Bush puts politics ahead of religion just like every politician.
Nice doggie! [while reaching for a stick]
slip um some pork....
I suspect they do that with each other, what with their raising their nether parts to the congregant behind them in the masjid!
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